Video: Answers to five questions about IPv6

The switch from Internet Protocol version four to Internet Protocol version six is a hot topic on TechRepublic. If you're still unsure what this change really means, stay tuned. Bill Detwiler shares answers from industry experts on five basic IPv6 questions.

The switch from IPv4 to IPv6 is a hot topic on TechRepublic. If you're still unsure what this change really means, stay tuned. In this IT Dojo video, I share answers from industry experts to five basic IPv6 questions.

Since TechRepublic members had lots of questions about Ip-v-6, Michael Kassner, one of our Network Administration bloggers, interviewed experts at the American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN) and Command Information--a private company which provides Internet services. We've used the material from those interviews for this video.

For those of you who prefer text to video, you can click the Transcript link that appears below the video player window. For more information on IPv6, check out the following downloads and articles from Kassner and others:

About Bill Detwiler

Bill Detwiler is Managing Editor of TechRepublic and Tech Pro Research and the host of Cracking Open, CNET and TechRepublic's popular online show. Prior to joining TechRepublic in 2000, Bill was an IT manager, database administrator, and desktop supp...

Disclosure

Bill Detwiler has nothing to disclose. He doesn't hold investments in the technology companies he covers.

Full Bio

Bill Detwiler is Managing Editor of TechRepublic and Tech Pro Research and the host of Cracking Open, CNET and TechRepublic's popular online show. Prior to joining TechRepublic in 2000, Bill was an IT manager, database administrator, and desktop support specialist in the social research and energy industries. He has bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Louisville, where he has also lectured on computer crime and crime prevention.

Since IPv6 has a lot more digits and different printed format. What are some of the more common "IP addresses"
Such as what would the new loop book be?
The 127.0.0.1 equivalent.
Would the default network be ::::?
Or the 0.0.0.0 equivalent.
(Although given some hardware/software configurations I've seen the "default" be some other number.)
Would the broadcast be FFFF:FFFF:FFFF:FFFF?
or the 255.255.255.255 equivalent.
What about "common internal network"?
The 192.168.#.# equivalent.
If anyone can shed light on this that would be great since these are probably the major address we will want to know or encounter.
And if there are any new special addresses to be aware of.

In IPv6, localhost address is ::1
0 and 255, has not significances in IPv6 as it does in IPv4.
Broadcast are performed with neighbor discovery protocol, and not broadcasts.
In IPv4 we have the RFC1918 (192.168.x.x), in IPv6 we have RFC4193, also called ULA or Unique Local Addresses (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unique_local_address).
Yes, there are many other addresses, go check out wiki on IPv6 for others.

Bill -
A very good presentation both in content and delivery. Very easy to understand in the manner you presented it.
Also - I love the "out takes" at the end... it shows that we're all still human after all.
Thanks, and again well done.

That depends on your network and the IPv6 address block you get assigned. With IPv6, everything to the right of the 64 bit boundary is a local network. Everything to the left deals with routing. If you are a small company, you can be allocated a /56 address public address, this provides you with 8 bits of subneting or 256 subnets. The purge organization can be allocated /48 , providing 16 bit so subnetting or 65536 subnets. Note, a 0 and 255 does not have special significance in IPv6, as it does in IPv4, there for you can use these two addresses.
To learn more, please check out the Anatomy of an IPv6 address at this site: http://www.commandinformation.com/ipv6/ipv6_anatomy.html
Joe Klein
Command Information

I know there is a need for IPv6 on the public domain however it seems like overkill to roll it out at the enterprise level. It seems that IPv6 just isn't intuitive enough to be quickly configured, managed, or troubleshot in the enterprise without the address space being heavy abbreviated (abc::1001). I think it would be much more difficult working with IPv6, which leads me to my question.
IANA carved out several "private-use" IPv4 segments that could not be used on the internet. Is there any similar Address spaces carved out for IPv6?

IPv6 is not IPv4, there are not only more addresses, but a larger took kit to manage and security any enterprises network. So your process of quickly configuring, managing or troubleshooting will take some time to learn. Go get a book or take a class.
As far as carved out ?private-use? addresses, IPv6 support ULA or Unique Local Addresses (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unique_local_address) and will provide you with enough addresses and subnets to handle any size network.
Joe Klein
Command Information

Private/Unregistered/Nonrouteable Addresses,
Private addresses are indicated by the address having "1111 1110 1" for the first nine bits. Thus, private addresses have a first octet value of "FE" in hexadecimal, with the next hex digit being from "8" to "F". These addresses are further divided into two types based on their scope, described below.
Loopback Address,
The loopback address is 0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1, which is normally expressed using zero compression as "::1".
Unspecified Address,
In IPv4, an IP address of all zeroes has a special meaning; it refers to the host itself, and is used when a device doesn't know its own address. In IPv6 this concept has been formalized, and the all-zeroes address (0:0:0:0:0:0:0:0) is named the unspecified address. It is typically used in the source field of a datagram sent by a device seeking to have its IP address configured. Zero compression can be applied to this address; since it is all zeroes, the address becomes just "::".
I found this inforation at,
http://www.tcpipguide.com/free/t_IPv6SpecialAddressesReservedPrivateLinkLocalSiteLo.htm

today for some reason by network connection was slow making the whole presentation choppy. For a solution I just "paused" it while I did something else. When I came back to it the buffer had filled enough to let me play uninterrupted to the end.